Firearms generally comprise a barrel structure, a chamber for housing a propellant, and a method of causing the propellant to propel a projectile down the barrel structure. The barrel structure is intended to guide the projectile toward its intended target. Frequently the inner surface of the barrel structure may be caused to have spiral indentations intended to cause the projectile to spin as it travels down the barrel. Such spin imparts stability and may result in a projectile that more consistently travels the path imparted by the barrel assembly. Other embodiments of firearms may have smooth inner barrel structure surfaces. Such other embodiments may rely on other methods of guiding a projectile towards its intended target. In order to guide a projectile towards its intended target, the inner surface of the barrel structure may have an inner diameter that is very close to the outer diameter of the projectile. This closeness in diameter is particularly critical when the barrel is designed to impart a spinning motion on the projectile.
Projectiles are frequently comprised of lead or other malleable material. In addition, some projectiles may have a coating or jacket material such as copper. As these projectiles travel down the barrel, the closeness in diameter causes the projectile to rub against the barrel assembly inner surface. The result may be traces of lead, copper, or other materials deposited from the projectile onto the barrel assembly.
Many embodiments of firearms rely on a propellant such as gunpowder or a similar chemical composition to propel a projectile down the barrel assembly. These designs may use a pressure sensitive substance to ignite the gunpowder in response to a user action such as pulling a trigger device. When the gunpowder ignites, it causes an explosion within a portion of the barrel assembly resulting in a rapidly expanding gas. This gas causes the projectile to travel rapidly down the barrel assembly and then continue on to the intended target. As the result of the exploding gunpowder, chemical particles may be deposited onto the inner surface of the barrel assembly.
As described above, traces of lead, copper, and other materials as well as chemical particles that result from the explosion of propellant may be deposited on the barrel assembly inner surface. Over time, such deposits may damage the surface of the gun barrel assembly and can interfere with the interface between the projectile and the gun barrel. Such interference may result in a reduction of the accuracy and performance of the firearm. As a result, the inner surface of the barrel assembly should be regularly cleaned to remove deposits.
Cleaning devices such as rods or cable devices are known in the art. Such devices commonly have removable cleaning devices. During an exemplary process for cleaning a barrel assembly these devices may be removed and replaced with devices for performing the various steps in the cleaning process. For example, a device for holding a cloth saturated with a cleaning solution may be caused to be attached to a cleaning rod. This cloth may then be pushed or pulled through the barrel assembly to cause cleaning solution to be deposited therein. The device for holding a cloth may be removed from the cleaning rod and replaced with a brush or scraper device to remove deposits from the barrel assembly. In this exemplary cleaning process, the brush or scraper may be removed and replaced with another device for holding a cloth that contains a corrosion inhibitor or lubricant material. As with the cleaning solution saturated cloth, this cloth containing a corrosion inhibitor or lubricant material may be pushed or pulled through the barrel assembly to deposit the corrosion inhibitor or lubricant onto the barrel assembly inner surface.
As described above, it is common for a cleaning process to be performed using multiple steps where each step may require a different device. A frequent problem during the performance of such steps is the recurring need to remove and replace the various devices used during the cleaning process. Known designs of cleaning devices, cleaning rods, and cleaning cables use a threaded interface between the rod or cable and the cleaning devices. Such a threaded interface requires that the user twist the cleaning device to engage the threaded interface and continue to twist until the threaded cleaning device is fully secured to the rod or cable. In order to accommodate longer gun barrel assemblies, sections of rod or cable are frequently required to be threaded together in a manner similar to what was described for attaching the cleaning device. In addition to being time consuming and tedious to assemble, threaded assemblies may be susceptible to cross-threading which may damage or destroy the threaded connection. Such a damaged connection may separate during use, resulting in a cleaning device becoming lodged in the barrel assembly or barrel damage from the unsecured cleaning rod or cable. Such a threaded assembly may also become unscrewed, even if the threaded section is not damaged. Again, this could result in the cleaning device becoming lodged in the barrel assembly. A known improvement to such a threaded connection is a connection that uses an enlarged end located on the cleaning device which is inserted into a keyhole shaped receiver located on a cleaning rod or cable. While such a connection eliminates the need to thread a cleaning device onto a barrel cleaning rod or cable, it only serves to secure the connection during a pulling motion. A pushing motion may cause this connection to release or become misaligned. The ability to push and pull a cleaning device through a gun barrel assembly allows for a more effective cleaning operation and eliminates the need to pull a cleaning device through the gun barrel assembly, disconnect the device from the cleaning rod or cable, reinsert the cleaning rod or cable, and reattach the cleaning device in order to perform the cleaning step a second time. With an attachment method that allows a user to apply a pushing and pulling motion to a cleaning device, that user may “scrub” the cleaning device back and forth in areas of the gun barrel assembly that require additional cleaning.
What is needed is a device to allow a user to quickly and easily change from one device to another during the cleaning process where such a device allows the user to both push and pull a cleaning device through a gun barrel assembly without unintended disconnection of the cleaning device from the cleaning rod or cable. Additionally, an embodiment of such a device may be fabricated using a reinforced plastic material that may be formed using an injection or similar molding process.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a hinged latch type interface between a cleaning rod or cable and cleaning device or additional segments of cleaning rod or cable may be formed using at least one engagement recess or groove which on a first section of the interface, partially or fully encircles a first shaft portion of the cleaning device or non-receiving portion of a cleaning rod and is inset radially from the first shaft portion of the cleaning device or non-receiving portion of the cleaning rod. A second section of the interface comprises a section of channel formed axially into an end portion of a cleaning rod or cable to receive the first shaft portion of the cleaning device or non-receiving portion of a cleaning rod. The second section of the interface may also comprise at least one hinged latch which may engage the engagement groove portion of the first shaft portion of the cleaning device or non-receiving portion of a cleaning rod as it is inserted into the first section of channel. In the described exemplary embodiment, the first shaft portion of the interface is positioned such that the engagement groove of the first shaft portion of the cleaning device enters the channel section of the second section of the interface. The first and second sections may be positioned such that the first shaft portion of the cleaning device makes contact with the end of the hinged latch. Once such contact is made, the first section may be inserted further into the second section so that the first shaft of the cleaning device is pressed further into the second section of the interface causing the hinged latch to move along the outer surface of the first shaft portion until it encounters the engagement recess or groove. When a trailing edge of the hinged latch reaches the beginning of the recess or groove of the first shaft portion of the cleaning device, the hinged latch may move downward such that the latch captures the engagement recess or groove, latching the cleaning device in place. When a user wishes to remove the cleaning device, that user may press an end of the hinged latch opposite from that portion of the hinged latch that is capturing the engagement groove of the cleaning device, causing the end of the hinged latch to rise above the edge of the engagement groove, releasing the groove and hence the cleaning device from the cleaning rod. In such an embodiment, the interface may be used to enable a user to connect a cleaning rod or cable to a cleaning device or an additional cleaning rod or cable by pushing such rod or cable and cleaning device together and partially twisting.
In an embodiment of the invention, a first shaft portion of the cleaning device may be tapered from a larger cross section where the first shaft portion meets the second shaft portion to a narrower cross section at the end of the first shaft portion farthest away from the second shaft portion of the cleaning device. Certain embodiments of the cleaning device may have an arcuate transition from the first to the second shaft portion to strengthen this connection point. Additionally, in certain embodiments of the invention, the first shaft portion may be rectangular in cross-section. In certain embodiments this rectangular shape will have equal or nearly equal sides (forming a square) while in other embodiments, the rectangular shape may have two sides that are shorter. In such an embodiment, the cleaning device will only fit into the rod in two orientations while an embodiment that is square will fit in four orientations. An engagement recess may be formed in two opposing faces of this rectangular cross section. In certain embodiments of the invention, the engagement recess may be formed to comprise a back bevel to more firmly engage a hinged latch portion which secures the cleaning device to the cleaning rod.